I couldn't find the last thread that discussed this so sorry for the new thread.

My wife and I are expecting our second child this year and we will need a larger vehicle. She currently has a tiny compact car and my car isn't large and I have it rated for low miles on insurance. Essentially, we are looking at crossovers or smaller SUV's so we can fit 2 child seats and still have room for something else (dog, another person, luggage).

Last year, with just 1 kid, we drove to the beach and her tiny car was packed full and we couldnt put much else in (as many of you with kids will know how much "extra" you have to bring with you on a trip."

We want something with good mileage because we will use this car to drive to the beach and the wife will use it to drive around for work. We need the storage space and seating space. We were thinking of considering a Mazda CX5 I think it was called (new) and maybe Ford escape, among other things...those 2 were just recommended somewhere

Anyone have any recommendations or advice? I don't need a NEW car and can go used, but it seems that, in our limited searching, there is not much of a price savings going lightly used vs new in this category. Maybe I am wrong about that though. There is a CarSense that opened near us - anyone know much about them?

We have 2 kids, one born a few months ago and own a CRV. While the mileage is great and there is some room, the backward facing car seat is tough to fit if you need the legroom up front and need the front seat all the way back. It is great for my wife, but not so much for me. We make due though.

My oldest has a forward facing car seat and is just fine though. So we need to just suck it up for a year or so.

When the second car goes, we are going to look for something the next size up though.

Basically, if you are looking for really good mileage, you may ahve to sacrifice the size.

Perhaps the Ford C-Max? It’s a hybrid crossover based on the Focus platform. It’s a little more expensive than a Escape, but then again it gets 47 mpg both in the city and on the highway. I think that would meet your “good mileage” criterion. http://www.edmunds.com/ford/c-max-hybri ... ?sub=wagon

Yeah, small SUVs are tough once you get two kids. We had the CRV and moved up to an Odyssey. Escapes are about the same size as a CRV. The CX5 is probably too small as well. Mazda CX9 is bigger and I really like those.

Looks like a bunch of you are saying I need to go bigger with 2 kids. So most of you are of the mindset that driving anywhere that isn't local in CRV, CX5, Escape sized car with 2 kids will be too cramped? Or is it fine just not ideal?

JeffDFD wrote:I couldn't find the last thread that discussed this so sorry for the new thread.

My wife and I are expecting our second child this year and we will need a larger vehicle. She currently has a tiny compact car and my car isn't large and I have it rated for low miles on insurance. Essentially, we are looking at crossovers or smaller SUV's so we can fit 2 child seats and still have room for something else (dog, another person, luggage).

Last year, with just 1 kid, we drove to the beach and her tiny car was packed full and we couldnt put much else in (as many of you with kids will know how much "extra" you have to bring with you on a trip."

We want something with good mileage because we will use this car to drive to the beach and the wife will use it to drive around for work. We need the storage space and seating space. We were thinking of considering a Mazda CX5 I think it was called (new) and maybe Ford escape, among other things...those 2 were just recommended somewhere

Anyone have any recommendations or advice? I don't need a NEW car and can go used, but it seems that, in our limited searching, there is not much of a price savings going lightly used vs new in this category. Maybe I am wrong about that though. There is a CarSense that opened near us - anyone know much about them?

Consider small minivans. I think you can find them cheaper than SUVs and No 3 may come along sooner than you expect.

Mazda CX5 and Ford Escape are essentially the same vehicle. They are cousins in the car world becasue of Ford's dabbling in the ownership of Mazda. If you want to stay in the small SUV category then either of those or as Krafter said the Subaru Forester is great. I have a 3 yr old and a 5 month old and we also have a Forester and everyone fits fine. We can even cram someone in the back with the two of them. You can have your stroller in the back and still pack it full of groceries. I'm a big Subaru fan having worked with them for a few years now. Great sturdy car with little maintenance and a 2nd to none AWD system that you and your wife will have supreme confidence in in any weather. Don't mind the CR-V but they are fairly under-powered. Find a certified Forester which takes the powertrain warranty to 6yrs/100,000 miles. You can match the bumper to bumper coverage to the 6yr/100,000 miles for $550. Its a steal of a deal for some piece of mind. You can probably snag one for around $20k.

JeffDFD wrote:I couldn't find the last thread that discussed this so sorry for the new thread.

My wife and I are expecting our second child this year and we will need a larger vehicle. She currently has a tiny compact car and my car isn't large and I have it rated for low miles on insurance. Essentially, we are looking at crossovers or smaller SUV's so we can fit 2 child seats and still have room for something else (dog, another person, luggage).

Last year, with just 1 kid, we drove to the beach and her tiny car was packed full and we couldnt put much else in (as many of you with kids will know how much "extra" you have to bring with you on a trip."

We want something with good mileage because we will use this car to drive to the beach and the wife will use it to drive around for work. We need the storage space and seating space. We were thinking of considering a Mazda CX5 I think it was called (new) and maybe Ford escape, among other things...those 2 were just recommended somewhere

Anyone have any recommendations or advice? I don't need a NEW car and can go used, but it seems that, in our limited searching, there is not much of a price savings going lightly used vs new in this category. Maybe I am wrong about that though. There is a CarSense that opened near us - anyone know much about them?

Consider small minivans. I think you can find them cheaper than SUVs and No 3 may come along sooner than you expect.

Curse you for mentioning #3. #2 is going to be here soon enough as is. As of now, I don't think #3 is in the cards!

I don't know much about mini-vans (except that I don't want to give in to them!) but I kind of want the car to be our all purpose vehicle...meaning good handling in the winter with 4WD or AWD, good safety, good mileage, etc etc etc. So I am willing to pay a little more to get that. Not sure if minivans can beat crossovers/SUV's in this area. Please feel free to update me though (again, I know nothing about minivans and how they handle and everything else)

JeffDFD wrote:I couldn't find the last thread that discussed this so sorry for the new thread.

My wife and I are expecting our second child this year and we will need a larger vehicle. She currently has a tiny compact car and my car isn't large and I have it rated for low miles on insurance. Essentially, we are looking at crossovers or smaller SUV's so we can fit 2 child seats and still have room for something else (dog, another person, luggage).

Last year, with just 1 kid, we drove to the beach and her tiny car was packed full and we couldnt put much else in (as many of you with kids will know how much "extra" you have to bring with you on a trip."

We want something with good mileage because we will use this car to drive to the beach and the wife will use it to drive around for work. We need the storage space and seating space. We were thinking of considering a Mazda CX5 I think it was called (new) and maybe Ford escape, among other things...those 2 were just recommended somewhere

Anyone have any recommendations or advice? I don't need a NEW car and can go used, but it seems that, in our limited searching, there is not much of a price savings going lightly used vs new in this category. Maybe I am wrong about that though. There is a CarSense that opened near us - anyone know much about them?

Consider small minivans. I think you can find them cheaper than SUVs and No 3 may come along sooner than you expect.

Curse you for mentioning #3. #2 is going to be here soon enough as is. As of now, I don't think #3 is in the cards!

I don't know much about mini-vans (except that I don't want to give in to them!) but I kind of want the car to be our all purpose vehicle...meaning good handling in the winter with 4WD or AWD, good safety, good mileage, etc etc etc. So I am willing to pay a little more to get that. Not sure if minivans can beat crossovers/SUV's in this area. Please feel free to update me though (again, I know nothing about minivans and how they handle and everything else)

The only AWD mini-van is the Toyota Sienna. When/if mini-joopen #3 comes along I am going right for one of those. You will pay $40k for a new one with used ones being very few and far between. See previous post for crossover advice (Mazda CX-9)

I recommend a gently used car over new. My last 3 cars were used, all with less than 20K miles. I have saved thousands versus buying new. I just bought a small SUV at Car Sense in Cranberry last month. They are worth checking out - most of their cars are less than 3 years old and under 30K miles. The sales guys do not work on commission, and the price listed is a discount off the kelly blue book. They inspect every car so that they can give you a 6 month/6000 mile warranty even if the manufacturer warranty has expired. Most cars will last over 100K miles if you take care of them.

If you go to Car Sense, do your research on the web site first and pick out 2 or 3 cars that you want to test drive. Good luck!

Jopaz wrote:I recommend a gently used car over new. My last 3 cars were used, all with less than 20K miles. I have saved thousands versus buying new. I just bought a small SUV at Car Sense in Cranberry last month. They are worth checking out - most of their cars are less than 3 years old and under 30K miles. The sales guys do not work on commission, and the price listed is a discount off the kelly blue book. They inspect every car so that they can give you a 6 month/6000 mile warranty even if the manufacturer warranty has expired. Most cars will last over 100K miles if you take care of them.

If you go to Car Sense, do your research on the web site first and pick out 2 or 3 cars that you want to test drive. Good luck!

Go to a dealership and get 12 month/12,000 mile warranty for the same vehicle plus have more and better options for getting an extended coverage. The advantage to going to a dealer is that they have certification programs which will typically always give you more warranty and the vehicle has to go through a more rigorous check than just a state inspection (a lot of things can not work and a car still pass state inspection). Also most dealers have better financing programs and some certified programs have special rate programs for certified vehicles.

We've gone the pre-owned route through dealers the last three cars we've gotten. The last two had less than 20k miles and the warranty is really nice to have. Save a bunch of money over a new car and you really don't lose out on much in the process.